STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Borough Hall Chief of Staff Meagan Devereaux is leaving the job after a 17-year career in borough government.

"I'm sad to leave," said Ms. Devereaux, 40, a New Dorp resident. "This has been a phenomenal experience. I was raised at Borough Hall. This was my first job out of college."

Ms. Devereaux is leaving to join her husband, Steven, who is working as a safety engineer in Korea on a three-year contract with the Samsung electronics firm. The couple has a daughter, Isabell, 10. The family will live in Seoul, she said.

Family concerns, Ms. Devereaux said, were "definitely a motivating factor" in her decision to leave.

"I love this job," she said. "But Isabell misses her father."

Borough President James P. Molinaro named Ms. Devereaux as his chief of staff in 2004. Prior to that, she had served as his director of transportation.

"It's a loss," he said. "I didn't expect her to leave, but it's the right move under the circumstances."

A native of Canada who was reared in Pennsylvania, Ms. Devereaux came to Borough Hall in 1994 to work as an environmental scientist under then-Borough President Guy Molinari.

She was the borough point-person during the West Nile virus outbreaks of 1999 and 2000, when the Giuliani Administration was under pressure to stop the spread of the disease beyond the city.

"Staten Island was the epicenter," said Ms. Devereaux, like Molinaro a member of the Conservative Party. "We led the charge."

She was also a key member of the Borough Hall team that worked to close the Fresh Kills landfill.

Ms. Devereaux also oversaw Molinaro's transportation portfolio, and served as the Borough Hall liaison to U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and others.

Ms. Devereaux, who earned $95,000 a year, yesterday praised Molinaro for the work his administration had done to resurrect South Beach, improve parks and build shopping areas like Bricktown Centre.

"It was wonderful to be a small part of bringing those things to fruition," she said. "I loved coming to work each day, and I love Jim. He has been like my father."

"It was a good run," Molinaro said.

Molinaro, who is set to leave office at the end of 2013, said that he wouldn't fill the chief of staff position "for a while." He announced that he has hired Joseph Sciortino, 24, to be his special assistant. Sciortino also will handle transportation issues and will earn $35,000.

"He's trying to learn everything there is to learn," said Molinaro. "Including my moods and everything else."

Sciortino lives in Brooklyn and has master's degree in global development and social justice from St. John's University in Queens.

Prior to coming to Borough Hall, Sciortino was an adjunct and assistant to the dean at St. John's, and coordinated the university's community partnership.

He said he was "honored" to join the Borough Hall staff.

"With such a record of success and so many great projects underway, it is an exciting time to be at Borough Hall," Sciortino said.